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Charles C. Nott was practicing law in New York when the Rebellion broke out, and somehow ended up in the Fremont Hussars; and shortly afterward, became a part of Curtis Horse (5th Iowa Cavalry, Company E) of which, 34-year old Nott became Captain. After the war ended, Charles Nott wrote a book of his exploits in the west; and Chapters 2 and 3 detail his accidental involvement with the Fort Donelson Campaign. Accidental, because Curtis Horse had been assigned to Fort Henry, but the steamer Captain Nott and his friend from the 14th Iowa Infantry climbed aboard carried the 2nd Iowa Infantry, bound for the Cumberland River. Nott describes many of the men of the 2nd Iowa, met during the brief voyage; sights along the banks of the Cumberland; and the snow (and attempting to seek shelter from the cold) in the semi-circle of Federal troops, ringing the west side of Fort Donelson (where Captain Nott "joined" the 14th Iowa, "on detached service."

The activities of February 15th are discussed as closely as anyone who heard about the "Confederate breakout attempt" without participating, could... followed by awareness that his unit, way up north of the activity further south, is to take part in storming the Rebel fort. The action force was led by the 2nd Iowa, followed closely by 52nd Indiana, 25th Indiana, 7th Iowa and 14th Iowa (while off to the right was a "feint" led by the 12th Iowa, 50th Illinois, and Birge's Western Sharpshooters.) Descending into a gully, climbing up the other side (under fire), watching the fate of the Federal troops in front; followed by awareness they have carried "the last significant position" ...and Captain Nott turned his attention to the wounded, and assisted in carrying many to Hospital.

[Chapter One of his book also describes a Hospital experience, significant in that he inadvertently captures the "outbreak of sickness" that gripped St. Louis in Winter 1861/62.]

Charles Nott was seriously injured a couple of months after Fort Donelson, and returned to New York to recover. While there, he was "assigned" to a New York infantry regiment that took part in operations in Louisiana (during which he was captured at Brashear City, and spent 13 months a captive at Camp Ford, Texas.) After the war, Colonel Nott returned to New York, and was eventually appointed Chief Justice of the United States Court of Claims.